Dec 2, 2019
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4 min read
A Guide On Current Hotel Industry Challenges
How do you, as a bricks and mortar business, thrive in a digitised world where the challenges are mounting? You learn what the current challenges in the hotel industry are. Then you take strategic steps to not just get over them, but use them as a springboard to success. Tall order? If you have the right tools at your fingertips, such as WiFi marketing for hotels, we don’t think so.
In this article, we reveal 5 of the dominating challenges in the hotel industry and give you real solutions for tackling them.
Expectations are changing
Your customer of yesterday is not your customer of today. Guest expectations and demands have undergone radical change.
Customers today expect personalisation, on tap WiFi, speedy check-in and more. It’s not just a matter of meeting expectations. You need to exceed those expectations. The bar has been raised thanks to technology, experience sharing and familiarity with streamlined services throughout all areas of an individual’s life.
Solution: Catch your guests where they are – on your WiFi. Beyond simply offering it, you then need to make it part of their personalised unique experience. For example, through WiFi marketing for hotels, you can give them targeted offers to redeem during this stay or the next. Another solution is advance automated check-in. Indeed, whilst the Hotel Britain Report 2018 put automation as a top prediction, we’d say it’s now not even optional.
The sharing economy isn’t a hotelier’s friend
Perhaps the biggest challenge that the hotel industry is facing is the boom in ‘hospitality hosts’. In London, the number of Airbnb listings has quadrupled in the last four years. Indeed, research shows that Airbnb is now one-third the size of the hotel sector in the capital.
This is competition on a scale the hotel industry isn’t experienced with. What’s more, these hospitality hosts are able to offer something unique and highly personalised.
Solution: Get savvy and offer things that hospitality hosts can’t, because of their size and set-up. Up your service levels and use technology in unique ways.
Marketing trends are all about the digital
Linked closely to the above two challenges is a reality that marketing trends today are all about the digital landscape. Yet, traditionally, hoteliers haven’t done too well at embracing this shift. Online marketing is now mandatory if you want to survive, let alone thrive.
Your customer spends their time online. When they are checking you out, they check online first. They hunt down your reputation and offerings like a bloodhound. A whopping 93% check hotel reviews before making a booking.
Solution: Digital marketing which focuses on engaging the customer is the way forward. You can do this through social media marketing, WiFi marketing and things such as hotel apps. Indeed, with Stampede you can make WiFi marketing effortless and make it easy for guests to leave reviews on major sites and get them boosting your social media profile through Facebook login. Check out more WiFi marketing features.
Data matters
We need customer data if we want meaningful insights which enable us to improve our service and grow. The growth of the smart hotel room, such as Hilton’s Connected Room and Marriott’s Internet of Things room, make valuable data collection and analysis possible. But it’s scary to know if you’re doing it legally and ethically. That’s before you consider the vulnerabilities and risks of attacks via connected devices.
Solution: Use smart and innovative solutions which take care of the tricky legalities for you. For example, we handle the GDPR side of your WiFi marketing so that you don’t even have to think about it.
Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty
Loyalty in the hotel industry has always been the Holy Grail. But now your customers are more fickle than ever. The digital world has made it easy for customers to succumb to enticing offers from competitors.
Solution: You need to be the one offering the right incentives at the right time, pulling your guests back, over and over again. With segmentation and data capture and analysis through WiFi marketing for hotels then you can entice your guests back with things such as birthday gifts or meal offers.
You have solutions
We’re not underestimating the challenges in the hotel industry. We are actively innovating to create solutions. Find out for yourself how WiFi marketing for hotels is a simple and affordable solution to many of these challenges by using our free trial. Join other hoteliers including Emerald Hotel, Trump International Golf Hotel Scotland and more.